Is it real: yes. Is it only everyone else? No.
Need proof? Many people on this here board don't believe that a 70k salary is enough to 'be happy'. See "CEO of the year" thread for more details. If you can't be happy for 70k I call you a wuss. There are many things I do that make me a wuss.
I agree with less complaining and more doing. I also agree with looking at yourself first.
/rant. You can all now get back to your regularly scheduled program.
70k for a family, or as a single person? Either way, I think a lot of the view of it not being enough is the drive to make more. I don't think that desire to earn more makes someone a wuss.
70k in my area is considered way above average, so that is most clearly location dependant
NOHOME wrote: Any wheeled activity without body armour. Five kids in a Morris Minnor with no rear doors and no seatbelts. Sailing Sunfish or Hobby cat sailboats 5 miles off the coast when we were about 10 years old. Dad rose up the corporate ladder in an era when drinking and driving was considered a skill, not a crime.(Lot of AA members from his peer group) Boarding an airplane without needing to disrobe for an x-ray.
Trans_Maro wrote: ^This When we were kids, you were in deep E36 M3 if the school called your parents. Now it's the other way around, the school is in deep E36 M3 if you call your parents.
Friend #1 is a 2nd grade teacher. She gave a student a zero for not turning in an assignment (after several deadline extensions and reminders). Guess who got in trouble (In the principals office she was told flat out to change the zero or change jobs. She gave him a "1")
Friend #2: Advanced English teacher in high-school (in Texas) often has half a class that cant speak English. No, this is not an immigration issue it's an "effort" issue. The teachers get in trouble from their employer if they fail a student, so instead of giving them the extra help they need they just promote the student. This keeps on happening until they reach "Seniors' Advanced English" and it's a problem for someone else (In this case "my friend's").
spitfirebill wrote:Woody wrote: I brought a Bowie knife into fourth grade for show and tell.I brought 2 shotguns!
Brought a .270 for opening day deer season my sophomore an junior years. The rifle went in the locker, the principal got the bolt/bullets, and we got to go hunting at lunch and after school. (albeit a VERY small school)
I brought the butt stock to my shotgun to wood shop my junior year (this time in Olympia, Washington) and re-finished it after gouging the crap out one hunting season.
as it was stated: I'm not saying "all the time", I'm just asking that we use our heads to make reasonable judgement calls like we used to (both were post Columbine).
haha, here's a teacher fighting back some, shame it had to come to that (teacher tells 1st grader to straighten up, dad sees first grader upset, lays into teacher yelling her into a corner, principle tells teacher she'll be written up for speaking back to dad, teacher files police report about dad's threatening behavior)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/after-a-parent-screamed-at-her-this-first-grade-teacher-called-the-police/2015/08/09/72eb88a6-3b00-11e5-8e98-115a3cf7d7ae_story.html?tid=pm_pop_b
johndej wrote: haha, here's a teacher fighting back some, shame it had to come to that (teacher tells 1st grader to straighten up, dad sees first grader upset, lays into teacher yelling her into a corner, principle tells teacher she'll be written up for speaking back to dad, teacher files police report about dad's threatening behavior) http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/after-a-parent-screamed-at-her-this-first-grade-teacher-called-the-police/2015/08/09/72eb88a6-3b00-11e5-8e98-115a3cf7d7ae_story.html?tid=pm_pop_b
When I was a kid, teachers were recognized as authority figures. All it took was one time smarting off, the 'rents would know before you got home and punishment was waiting. How times have changed. 
And people wonder why no one wants to be a teacher anymore...
BlueInGreen44 wrote: And people wonder why no one wants to be a teacher anymore...
that and the crap pay.
But.. So many are compelled to do this.. My wife included.
I think I'm in a unique perspective to comment on this one.
I have helped organise comi-con type events specific to Japanese animation for around 22 years, 15 of them as a director of some kind. Some of those early shows had maybe 500 people, and now, many of them over 20,000.
These are volunteer-type events, not backed by a corporate investors, so when I started this in my late teens all the way up until now I'm the older dude, I have had the perspective of watching other younger volunteers cycle thru the years.
The two most troubling things I'm seeing:
1: lack of interpersonal experience when it comes to conflict. I think this is one part technology to blame and one part the general political correctness culture. When conflicts arise, everyone is looking to spectate including the participants in the conflict, as though they were watching a facebook/twitter feed unfold. Basically, an inappropriate distancing from the issue.
2: lack of applied critical thinking. This one is deceptive, because I have volunteers who are unquestionably smarter and more capable than I will be again. however, critical thinking by large seems to be dulled as information consumption (especially social networking information) goes up past a certain point.
In summary, I think youth 20 and under currently is actually having a tough time identifying who they are in a situation. and the 20~25 year olds are finding the tools they have developed to this point arent serving them very well at all, especially conflict resolution.
Fueled by Caffeine wrote:BlueInGreen44 wrote: And people wonder why no one wants to be a teacher anymore...that and the crap pay. But.. So many are compelled to do this.. My wife included.
Myself included 
But I wouldn't ever want to work in the public school system. The folks willing to put up with all that are braver than I.
some teachers are paid crap, yes.
in Georgia, a starting new teacher in one of the many metro counties is likely to make 35~40k first year, PLUS about 5k in retirement and other benefits annually. AND can have their student loan debt FORGIVEN in 5 years.
and we're a non-union state.
seems like if you want to be a professional teacher in Georgia, you have a path thats not too terrible to pursue.
I think the biggest problem facing government teachers is a conflict of what they think is important with what parents currently think are important and what the appointed/elected government branch that budgets for them think is important.
I find that even though I am young enough to be in the "protected" generation I never grew up with everything being fair or safe. Maybe because I grew up in the country but I feel like I am alot better a person because I learned that there are winners and losers and I learned how to fend for myself all day with my friends riding bikes through the texas hill country.
More people need to have "oldschool" childhoods.
This is a great thread. Wussification definitely is happening. But it's been going on for generations. At 66, I'm a bit older than many of you. I can remember my grandfather and father saying these same things about my Baby Boomer generation (e.g., when I was a kid we walked five miles to school in rain, sleet, snow, etc.). But wussification seems to be worse now than previous generations. My opinion is it's because of the fact we have too many lawyers and too many people carrying the PC thing way, way too far. So yes, wussification continues, as it has for generations, but seems to have escalated in the past 15-20 years due to new influences.
madmallard wrote: some teachers are paid crap, yes. in Georgia, a starting new teacher in one of the many metro counties is likely to make 35~40k first year, PLUS about 5k in retirement and other benefits annually. AND can have their student loan debt FORGIVEN in 5 years. and we're a non-union state. seems like if you want to be a professional teacher in Georgia, you have a path thats not too terrible to pursue.
I am starting to view it this way as well. Only work 1000-1300 hours a year, with an entire summer off, decent benefits, etc. Even if you cut my salary in half, that's a pretty good deal.
Being a teacher is on my list of semi-retirement jobs in 10 or 15 years.
ProDarwin wrote:madmallard wrote: some teachers are paid crap, yes. in Georgia, a starting new teacher in one of the many metro counties is likely to make 35~40k first year, PLUS about 5k in retirement and other benefits annually. AND can have their student loan debt FORGIVEN in 5 years. and we're a non-union state. seems like if you want to be a professional teacher in Georgia, you have a path thats not too terrible to pursue.I am starting to view it this way as well. Only work 1000-1300 hours a year, with an entire summer off, decent benefits, etc. Even if you cut my salary in half, that's a pretty good deal. Being a teacher is on my list of semi-retirement jobs in 10 or 15 years.
And I'm going to say you both are crazy if you go into teaching today. I taught school for 28 years. I loved the first 24 and then the stuff this thread is about started happening around 1990. So I didn't even stick around for a full retirement of 30 years.
Fueled by Caffeine wrote:BlueInGreen44 wrote: And people wonder why no one wants to be a teacher anymore...that and the crap pay. But.. So many are compelled to do this.. My wife included.
I have no idea how people can be teachers or police officers in this day and age. Way too much "responsibility" with all the tools taken away that normally come with being "responsible".
My mother went back to school at 40 (15 years ago!) to get her bachelor of education. She says if she was going into college nowadays, she'd never recommend being a teacher to anyone.
Ok, I've said a lot in support of the wussification of America and how it has negatively effected people (mostly the up and coming generation) but after the last couple days at work I'm compelled to say something positive about the "wussification of America"
For the last three days I have had to crawl into an aircrafts fuel tank (one that was previously filled with jet fuel) through an oval orafice not exactly "shoulder wide". Once there I had to crouch down before crawling through another bulkhead via another similarly shaped orifice into what's known as the "hell hole". Once there I crouched not quite on all fours in the hell hole, a compartment just tall enough to hold my head up kinda, narrow enough that I had to scrunch my shoulders, and just long enough that when crouched (not quite on all fours) my feet hit the back bulkhead.
Once in position (picture a modified pushup position) I had to pick up one of my hands to use a 3/4" putty knife to scrape sealant off of fasteners and bulkhead. At times the sealant was nearly 1/2" thick and it was by no means easy to get through (this aint kitchen caulk we're dealing with here, more like lead-lite).
I'm bruised from not being able to move, I'm blistered from the hand tools, and I'm exhausted mentally and physically.
BUT! I have plenty of personal breathing equipment (supplied air respirator,protective coveralls, gloves, etc) that keep me from breathing, ingesting, or wearing the jet fuel, I'm limited to the time I can be in there without a break, I get lots of water brought to me, and I make darn good money that I'll live long enough to spend.
If at any time I feel like I'm unnecessarily exposed to a safety or health risk I'm well aware of the channels I can notify within my company to fix the problem.
All in all I guess what I'm saying is: When it comes to health and safety in the workplace sometimes the wussification isn't a bad thing. It wasn't long ago that PPE and scheduled breaks would have been unheard of.
(oh, and I got a growler of micro-brew back at home in the fridge )
I don't think anyone is arguing against the kind of safety that you're talking about.
We're arguing against the perceived need to shelter your children from every little bump and scrape along the road of life.
People need to learn how to fall down, how to lose and how to start over from scratch or they become entitled, whiny, sore-loser adults who expect life to be fair and easy.
rcutclif wrote: Is it real: yes. Is it only everyone else? No. Need proof? Many people on this here board don't believe that a 70k salary is enough to 'be happy'. See "CEO of the year" thread for more details. If you can't be happy for 70k I call you a wuss. There are many things I do that make me a wuss. I agree with less complaining and more doing. I also agree with looking at yourself first. /rant. You can all now get back to your regularly scheduled program.
$70k is more than double the highest I ever made
Hal wrote:ProDarwin wrote:And I'm going to say you both are crazy if you go into teaching today. I taught school for 28 years. I loved the first 24 and then the stuff this thread is about started happening around 1990. So I didn't even stick around for a full retirement of 30 years.madmallard wrote: some teachers are paid crap, yes. in Georgia, a starting new teacher in one of the many metro counties is likely to make 35~40k first year, PLUS about 5k in retirement and other benefits annually. AND can have their student loan debt FORGIVEN in 5 years. and we're a non-union state. seems like if you want to be a professional teacher in Georgia, you have a path thats not too terrible to pursue.I am starting to view it this way as well. Only work 1000-1300 hours a year, with an entire summer off, decent benefits, etc. Even if you cut my salary in half, that's a pretty good deal. Being a teacher is on my list of semi-retirement jobs in 10 or 15 years.
This timeline jibes with my observation in a previous comment. So my question stands. What happened in 1990 that turned kids into snowflakes and personal responsibility into a rare commodity?
I kinda think it has to do with a big push to spend "quality time" with your kid. When I was growing up "get out of the house" was the norm and as a result I figured things out for myself.
By comparison my little brother (13 years younger) was coddled, encouraged, engaged, and allowed to play inside much more. And now his ability to see solutions to problems, figuring it out for himself is virtually nil. And sadly, from what I've seen of his contemporaries, he's not nearly as bad as most of them.
I don't think it was an immediate change in 1990... I was in 2nd grade in 1990 and things were far from the extreme nonsense being posted in this thread.
madmallard wrote: I think I'm in a unique perspective to comment on this one. I have helped organise comi-con type events specific to Japanese animation for around 22 years, 15 of them as a director of some kind. Some of those early shows had maybe 500 people, and now, many of them over 20,000.
That's something I didn't know... given you're in ATL, is AWA one of those? I've been tech staff for at least one anime con for the last decade or so myself (AniBo is the only one I still make the trek for now).
You'll need to log in to post.
